Happiness For You (Chapter Six)

The door opened and everybody’s eyes, excluding Allen and Kanda’s, bulged out.

Right out there, was a tray. Not just any tray, but a huge tray filled with delicacies of many kinds. Cupcakes, muffins, puddings, toasts, creamy buns, and many others. A young girl was holding the tray. She smiled sweetly and held out the tray, signaling us to take it. Krory reached out his hands and took it. Then he looked at the girl once more and back at the tray.

The next moment, he was already digging in. “Ooooo.... I’m so hungry. This is the best!” he said while stuffing all the food into his mouth.

Allen laughed and pointed to the door. Everyone saw that beyond the girl were dozens of trays filled with many more food, junk food, sweets and tons of others. Miranda clapped her hands and squealed like a little girl and found all eyes on her.

“Hehe.. Old habit of mine. Squealing when something delights me,” she said sheepishly.

The girl at the door spoke to Allen.

“Young Master, here are all that you asked for. For anything else, please inform us.”

She bowed low and went off.

“Who was that? Why did she call you Young Master?”

Nozomi was confused. The girl was so young, around her age. But she called Allen Young Master?

“She’s one of the servants here. The youngest.”

“How old is she?”

“18. Why all this sudden interest in her?”

“Nothing. I just thought she was your sister or something.”

Allen smiled knowingly and took the next tray of snacks into his room. Krory’s mouth was full of crumbs and cream. And he was still stuffing his mouth with the food. Miranda was choosing which to devour first. Lenalee and the others just laughed at each other and brought in the drinks outside. They started toasting each other and seemed to enjoy themselves very much.

In midst of all these enjoyment, Nozomi realized that there was a moment when Inari gestured Lavi to follow her to a small corner of the room. Without them realizing, she tries to listen to their conversation but only caught a few words like she, know, never, and secret. It boosted her feeling of wanting to know what they were talking about. As she tried to go nearer to them, they turned towards her and walked. She immediately fled to her original place before.

“Where did you go?” she asked them casually when they reached her side.

“Oh, I asked Lavi to teach me a math question,” Inari said, smiling.

“Oh ok.”

The rest did not seem to have realized anything amiss. Miranda was still choosing her first snack and the others were chatting happily together. Although Nozomi was not satisfied with Inari’s simple explanation, she could not tell her that she spied on them. It would show that she did not trust her friend. So she tried her best to get on with the party as normal as possible.

After the party was over, everyone left Allen’s except him of course. It was very late and the streets looked creepy to her. She walked cautiously until she reached her house. As she stepped on the doorstep, she could sense that there was something amiss. Like something had happened. She could not shake off that certain feeling. So braving herself, she placed her hand on the door knob and turned it.

And her eyes opened like never before. The living room was a mess. Everything was in different positions and overturned. Vases and other fragile things were smashed into pieces. The couches were ripped with the insides all over the place. Most of the furniture were broken. Everything was practically ruined. Nozomi felt afraid.

What if the person or thing who did all these was still in the house? What if it was more than one person or thing? What about her mother and sister? Were they alright?

She slowly took a step towards the kitchen. A few more steps followed and her mouth dropped open. On the floor lied her mother with blood surrounding her. A dagger could be seen upright on her chest. The kitchen was also a mess. But she had only found her mother. Although she knew she should inform the police, she couldn’t bear to. She wanted to find her beloved sister first.

So up the stairs she went. Step by step, her legs like jelly. She peeked into her sister’s room where she found the same situation as below. But her sister was not in sight. She continued looking into her mother’s room and her own, which was where her sister was found.

Her eyes stared up into the ceiling. Her body not moving. No blood surrounded her. Only a small amount on her head. It appeared as if she was shot straight at the skull. Nozomi fell onto her knees. Tears welled up in her eyes. They fell.

One drop.

Two drops.

Three drops.

Four....

She stood up. She turned towards the stairs and started towards it. Down she went to the kitchen. Tears were still coming down, except it was now flowing down her face. She took a look at her mother and she had flashbacks of old memories.

Her father had died when she was five years old. He had stroke and passed away one night with a silent heart attack. She didn’t really feel the pain because he did not exactly spend his time with the family. Instead, he kept working and working, making money for the family. He hardly came home, leaving her mother lonesome. Her mother, sister and herself have had each other since then. They went through thick and thin together, no matter what happened.

And now, before her eyes, they were lying dead on the floor with no justice found for them. She must seek justice for them. Find the culprit and do justice for them. She must....

A voice was heard.

She looked up the stairs. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except the mess. She looked back intently at her mother’s lifeless body. Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of her.

She screamed.

-brenda-